Jack and carrier unit



Nov. 28, 1961 E. H. BARD JACK AND CARRIER UNIT Filed Sept. 12, 1957 INVENTR 77776? /7. 3471.

United States Patent "cc 3,010,591 JACK AND CARRIER UNIT Elmer H. Bard, Muskegon, Mich, assignor to Geerpres Wringer, Inc., a corporation of Michigan Filed Sept. 12', 1957, Ser. No. 683,507 1 Claim. (Cl. 214-390) able time in moving desks and other furniture to permit floor cleaning and similar operations. Furthermore,

these moving operations require considerable manual effort on the part of persons of a size capable of exerting the forces necessary to move a desk. The wheeled jack and carrier unit of this invention is operable initially to easily lift one end of a desk or the like oil the floor to a supported postion on the unit. When a second unit has been similarly assembled with the opposite end of the desk, the desk is readily rolled to an out of the way position.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following descripton, the appended claim and the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the jack and carrier unit of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view looking substantially along the lines 22 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of a pair of units of this invention in initial assembly positions with opposite ends of a desk;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view like FIG. 3 showing the units in assembly position with the desk after the units have been manipulated to raise the desk;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a modified jack and carrier unit of this invention; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view looking along the line 6-6 in FIG. 5.

With reference to the drawing, the jack unit of this invention, indicated generally at 10, is illustrated in FIG. 1 as including an invented U-shape frame member 12. The frame member 12 has a base or bight portion 14 and a pair of substantially parallel legs 16 provided at their lower terminal ends with casters 18. A load engaging block 20 of rectangular shape is adjustably mounted on the legs '16 for up and down movement to a desired horizontal position The block 20 which is illustrated as being formed of wood (FIG. 2), but which it is to be understood can be formed of any suitable material, is split longitudinally so that it consists of a front section 22 and a rear section 24 smaller than the from section 22. A pair of bolts 26 extend transversely through the block sections 22 and 24 so that on tightening of the bolts 26, the sections 22 and 24 are clamped against opposite sides of the legs 16 to hold the block in an adjusted position.

A rectangular groove 30 inthe top side 33 of the front section 22, adjacent the front side 32 of the block has a pair of gripping members 34 frictionally held therein. Each of the members 34 is conveniently formed of a strip of rubber or an equivalent material having a high c efi'icient friction and, as best appears in FIG. 2, projects above the top surface 33 of the block 20.

A fabric strap 38 is secured at one end 40 to the base portion 14 of the frame 12 and carries a buckle 42, of usual type, for attaching the opposite end of the strap 38 3,010,591 Patented Nov. 28, 1961 2 V to a similar strap on another unit 10, as will be explained later.

In use, assume that a desk 44 having a body 46 and legs 48 is to be moved on a floor surface 50. First, the load block 20 is adjusted vertically on the legs 16 so that thetop side of the block is spaced from the remote sides of the casters 18 a distance slightly greater than the length of the desk legs 48. The first unit 10 is then moved to the inclined position illustrated in FIG. 3 at the left end 49 of the desk 44. In this position of the unit 10, the casters 18 therefor are supported on the floor 50 and the gripping members 34 engage the underside of the desk body 46. The base portion 14 of the frame 12 is manually swung in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3 so that the base 114 is moved upwardly toward the end 49 of the desk. As a result, the frame 12 acts as a lever to move the desk body 46 upwardly to a position supported on the block 20 and engaged with the gripping members 34 to prevent slipping of the desk off the 10. By virtue of their resilient construction, the gripping members 34 bend over against the top surface 33- to pro vide for a maximum frictional engagement of the gripping members 34 with the desk. In the substantially vertical position of the frame 12, the end 49 of the desk is raised so that the legs 48 are above the door surface 50. A second unit 10 is similarly assembled with the right hand end 54 of the desk 44 so that the entire desk is caster supported, as illustrated in FIG. 4.

After each unit 10 has been manipulated to a position in which the frame therefor is against the adjacent end of the desk 44, the straps 38 for the units are extended across the desk top and connected together at their ends by means of the buckle 42. This connection of the units 10 prevents accidental movement of the units out of a substantially vertical supporting relation with the desk 44. It is apparent that the units 10 may be assembled in any order with the desk 44-, the above sequence in which the left unit 10 was first assembled being only for the purpose of illustration.

While the unit 10 has been illustrated with respect to moving the desk 44, it is to be understood that it is to be usable with all types of furniture and the like having horizontal portions supportable on the blocks 20. Also,

it is not necessary that the frames '12 project above the I desk top, as illustrated in FIG. 4, since the straps 38 are efiective to connect the frames 12 whether or not they extend above the desk..

The modified unit 10a illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, is substantially identical to the unit 10. Accordingly, like numerals with the letter sufiix a are used on the unit 1 10a to indicate like parts on the unit 10. The load carrying block 20a for the unit 10a is of a one piece construction, having laterally extending openings 7 0 through which the frame legs 16a are extended. A horizontal bar member 72 is connected to and extends between the legs 16a for slidably supporting a vertically extending strap 74 secured at its lower end to the block 28. The strap 74 has a longitudinally extending row of openings 76 and is provided at its upper end with a finger loop 78 so that the strap 74 can be manually grasped to raise and lower the block 20a.

A holding pin 80 carried in a housing 82 on the bar 72 is engageable in an opening 76 for holding the strap 74 at a moved position corresponding to the desired horizontal position of the block 20a. The pin 80 is provided at one end with a handle 84 and has a disk 86 positioned within the housing 82 and engaged with a spring 88 in the housing for manually biasing the pin 80 in a direction toward thestrap 74. The unit 1011 is usable in the same manner described above for the unit 10.

A cleaning crew equipped with one or more pairs of i the units 10 can readily move the desks in an oflice or the like out of the way for cleaning of the floor area in a minimum period of time. It can be readily understood that in an office building having a considerable number of ofiices and each of which has a multitude of desks, asubstantial saving in time is achieved during each days floor cleaning operation.

Although the invention has been described with respect to several embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that it is not to be so limited, since changes can be made therein which are within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

' A wheeled jack and carrier apparatus consisting of a pair of identically constructed units, each for supporting one end of a normally stationary object to be moved, each of said units comprising: a unitary frame member of inverted U-shape having a base portion and downwardly extending legs; casters swivelly mounted directly on the lower ends of said legs; a substantially horizontal load engaging block slidably mounted on and extending between said legs, said block including a pair of longitudinally extending side by side sections; connecting means extending transversely through said sections for clamping them against opposite sides of said legs, said connecting means being operable to maintain said block in a vertically adjusted position on said legs; a gripping member having high frictional characteristics supported in and extending upwardly from an elongated slot in said block and engageable with said stationary object for preventing slipping of the'objeot relative to said frame member, said block being engageable with an underside portion at one end of said stationary object when said frame member is inclined and said casters are positioned below the underside pontion whereby manual movement of said base portion toward the stationary object will cause said casters to move to positions directly below said block whereupon said one'end of the object will be elevated by said block to a supported position; and single strap means secured at one end to said base portion and attachable ad- 'jacent the opposite end with the single strap on the complementary unit similarly positioned at the opposite end of the stationary object to be moved, whereby said units will maintain said stationary object in a fully supported and elevated position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,520,630 Bateman Dec. 23, 1924 2,019,214 Denny Oct. 29, 1935 2,305,284 Trabant Dec. 15, 1942 2,551,097 Cole May 1, 1951 2,798,625 Mamo July 9, 1957 

